Age of Conan dev video diary 5: melee combat!

Melee combat. It's one of the main reasons that a lot of people have so much interest in Age of Conan, and it's definitely something that makes the game stand out next to other MMOs. Having thrown out the traditional "auto-attack" altogether, AoC plays more like an action game, and in the newly released Developer Video Diary 5, we get an explanation of some of the finer points of this combat system.
The video features Gaute Godager, Andrew Griffin, and Evan Michaels from the AoC team. We are told about the importance of weapon swings hitting multiple enemies at once, and how choosing between weapons will be more than just comparing damage, seeing as they will likely have different swinging arcs. The game's shielding and directional attacking features are also discussed, as well as knockbacks and other combos.

Of course, there's a lot of fan service (read: decapitations) too, so there's something for everyone. We're not too sure if the video features the new ground textures or not, but it all looks pretty nice. And bloody. Get a feel for the visceral combat by downloading the video diary here.